Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC cut its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $221,297,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $135.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $131.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.19.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.